MSSW
Dan Ryan » Research Methods in the Social Sciences » MSSW

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Detailed Contents

Chapter 1. Science, Society, and Social Research

Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research

  1. What Is the Question?
  2. What Is the Theory?
  3. What Is the Strategy?
    1. Deductive Research
  4. Research in the News: Investigating Child Abuse Doesn’t Reduce It
    1. Domestic Violence and the Research Circle
      1. Inductive Research
  5. Research That Matters
    1. An Inductive Study of Response to a Disaster
  6. Descriptive Research: A Necessary Step
  7. What Is the Design?
    1. Cross-Sectional Designs
    2. Longitudinal Designs
      1. Trend Designs
      2. Panel Designs
      3. Cohort Designs
    3. Units and Levels of Analysis
  8. Careers and Research: Russell K. Schutt, PhD
  9. Conclusion
  10. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 3. Ethics in Research

  1. Historical Background
  2. Ethical Principles
    1. Protecting Research Subjects
      1. Avoid Harming Research Participants
      2. Obtain Informed Consent
      3. Avoid Deception in Research, Except in Limited Circumstances
      4. Maintain Privacy and Confidentiality
  3. Research That Matters
    1. Maintaining Honesty and Openness
  4. Research in the News: What Would an IRB Say?
    1. Achieving Valid Results
  5. Careers and Research: Kristen Kenny, Research Compliance Specialist
    1. Encouraging Appropriate Application
  6. Conclusion
  7. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 4. Conceptualization and Measurement

  1. What Do We Have in Mind?
    1. Conceptualization
  2. Research That Matters
  3. Research in the News: What Is Your Race?
    1. Variables and Constants
  4. How Will We Know When We’ve Found It?
    1. Using Available Data
    2. Content Analysis
    3. Constructing Questions
      1. Single Questions
      2. Indexes and Scales
    4. Making Observations
    5. Combining Measurement Operations
  5. How Much Information Do We Really Have?
    1. Nominal Level of Measurement
    2. Ordinal Level of Measurement
    3. Interval Level of Measurement
    4. Ratio Level of Measurement
    5. Comparison of Levels of Measurement
  6. Careers and Research: Dana Hunt, Principal Scientist
  7. Did We Measure What We Wanted to Measure?
    1. Measurement Validity
      1. Face Validity
      2. Criterion Validity
      3. Construct Validity
    2. Reliability
    3. Can We Achieve Both Reliability and Validity?
  8. Conclusion
  9. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 5. Sampling and Generalizability

  1. How Do We Prepare to Sample?
    1. Define Sample Components and the Population
    2. Evaluate Generalizability
    3. Assess the Diversity of the Population
    4. Consider a Census
  2. Research That Matters
  3. What Sampling Method Should We Use?
    1. Probability Sampling Methods
  4. Research in the News: What Are Best Practices for Sampling Vulnerable Populations?
    1. Simple Random Sampling
    2. Systematic Random Sampling
    3. Cluster Sampling
    4. Stratified Random Sampling
  5. Nonprobability Sampling Methods
    1. Availability Sampling
  6. Careers and Research: Ross Koppel, Sociologist
    1. Quota Sampling
    2. Purposive Sampling
    3. Snowball Sampling
  7. Conclusion
  8. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 6. Causation and Experimental Design

  1. Causal Explanation
  2. What Causes What?
    1. Association
  3. Research in the News: Where Did You Hear That?
    1. Time Order
    2. Nonspuriousness
  4. Research That Matters
    1. Mechanism
    2. Context
  5. Why Experiment?
  6. Careers and Research: Sruthi Chandrasekaran, Senior Research Associate
  7. What If a True Experiment Isn’t Possible?
    1. Nonequivalent Control Group Designs
    2. Before-and-After Designs
    3. Ex Post Facto Control Group Designs
  8. What Are the Threats to Validity?
    1. Threats to Internal (Causal) Validity
      1. Noncomparable Groups
      2. Endogenous Change
      3. History
      4. Contamination
      5. Treatment Misidentification
    2. Threats to Generalizability
      1. Sample Generalizability
      2. Cross-Population Generalizability
      3. Interaction of Testing and Treatment
  9. How Do Experimenters Protect Their Subjects?
    1. Deception
    2. Selective Distribution of Benefits
  10. Conclusion
  11. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 7. Survey Research

  1. Why Is Survey Research So Popular?
  2. Research in the News: What Can Surveys Uncover?
  3. How Should We Write Survey Questions?
    1. Be Clear; Avoid Confusing Phrasing
    2. Minimize Bias
    3. Allow for Disagreement
    4. Don’t Ask Questions They Can’t Answer
    5. Allow for Uncertainty
    6. Make Response Categories Exhaustive and Mutually Exclusive
  4. How Should Questionnaires Be Designed?
    1. Build on Existing Instruments
    2. Refine and Test Questions
    3. Maintain Consistent Focus
    4. Order the Questions
  5. Careers and Research: Floyd J. (“Jack”) Fowler Jr., Founder and Director of the Center for Survey Research
    1. Make the Questionnaire Attractive
  6. What Are the Alternatives for Administering Surveys?
    1. Mailed, Self-Administered Surveys
    2. Group-Administered Surveys
    3. Telephone Surveys
      1. Reaching Sampling Units
    4. In-Person Interviews
  7. Research That Matters
  8. Maximizing Response to Interviews
    1. Electronic Surveys
  9. A Comparison of Survey Designs
  10. Ethical Issues in Survey Research
  11. Conclusion
  12. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 8. Elementary Quantitative Data Analysis

  1. Why Do Statistics?
    1. Case Study: The Likelihood of Voting
  2. How to Prepare Data for Analysis
  3. What Are the Options for Displaying Distributions?
    1. Graphs
    2. Frequency Distributions
  4. What Are the Options for Summarizing Distributions?
  5. Research in the News: General Social Survey Shows Infidelity on the Rise
    1. Measures of Central Tendency
      1. Mode
      2. Median
      3. Mean
      4. Median or Mean?
    2. Measures of Variation
  6. Research That Matters
    1. Range
    2. Interquartile Range
    3. Variance
    4. Standard Deviation
  7. How Can We Tell Whether Two Variables Are Related?
    1. Reading the Table
    2. Controlling for a Third Variable
  8. Secondary Data Analysis
  9. Careers and Research: Claire Wulf Winiarek, Director of Collaborative Policy Engagement
    1. U.S. Census Bureau
    2. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
    3. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
    4. Human Relations Area Files
  10. Big Data
  11. Ethical Issues in Statistical Analysis, Secondary Data Analysis, and Big Data
  12. Conclusion
  13. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 9. Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening

  1. What Are Qualitative Methods?
    1. Case Study: Beyond Caring
    2. Ethnography
  2. Careers and Research: Amanda Aykanian, Research Associate
    1. Netnography
  3. Research in the News: Can Taping Interviews Capture a Trend?
    1. Ethnomethodology
  4. How Does Participant Observation Become a Research Method?
    1. Choosing a Role
      1. Complete Observation
      2. Mixed Participation or Observation
      3. Complete Participation
    2. Entering the Field
    3. Developing and Maintaining Relationships
  5. Research That Matters
    1. Sampling People and Events
    2. Taking Notes
    3. Managing the Personal Dimensions
      1. Systematic Observation
  6. How Do You Conduct Intensive Interviews?
    1. Establishing and Maintaining a Partnership
    2. Asking Questions and Recording Answers
    3. Interviewing Online
  7. How Do You Run Focus Groups?
  8. Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
  9. Conclusion
  10. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 10. Qualitative Data Analysis

  1. What Is Distinctive About Qualitative Data Analysis?
    1. Qualitative Data Analysis as an Art
    2. Qualitative Compared With Quantitative Data Analysis
  2. What Techniques Do Qualitative Data Analysts Use?
    1. Documentation
    2. Conceptualization, Coding, and Categorizing
    3. Examining Relationships and Displaying Data
    4. Authenticating Conclusions
  3. Research That Matters
    1. Reflexivity
  4. What Are Some Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis?
    1. Narrative Analysis
    2. Conversation Analysis
    3. Grounded Theory
  5. Careers and Research: Laurel Person Mecca, Assistant Director and Senior Research Specialist
    1. Visual Sociology
  6. Why Are Mixed Methods Helpful?
  7. Research in the News: What’s in a Message?
  8. How Can Computers Assist Qualitative Data Analysis?
  9. What Ethical Issues Arise in Doing Qualitative Data Analysis?
  10. Conclusion
  11. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 11. Unobtrusive Measures

  1. Creative Sources
    1. Physical Traces
    2. Archives
    3. Observation
    4. Contrived Observation
  2. Content Analysis
    1. Identify a Population of Documents or Other Textual Sources
    2. Determine the Units of Analysis
    3. Select a Sample of Units From the Population
    4. Design Coding Procedures for the Variables to Be Measured
    5. Develop Appropriate Statistical Analyses
  3. Historical Methods
    1. Event-Structure Analysis
    2. Oral History
  4. Comparative Methods
  5. Careers and Research: Kurt Taylor Gaubatz, Faculty, Department of Political Science & Geography International Studies Graduate Program
    1. Cross-Sectional Comparative Research
  6. Research in the News: Can We Compare Equality on the Board Across the Globe?
    1. Longitudinal Comparative Research
  7. Research That Matters
    1. Cautions for Comparative Analysis
  8. Ethical Issues in Unobtrusive Methods
  9. Conclusion
  10. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 12. Evaluation Research

  1. What Is the History of Evaluation Research?
  2. Careers and Research: Mary Anne Casey, Consultant
  3. What Is Evaluation Research?
  4. What Are the Alternatives in Evaluation Designs?
    1. Black Box or Program Theory
    2. Researcher or Stakeholder Orientation
    3. Quantitative or Qualitative Methods
    4. Simple or Complex Outcomes
  5. What Can an Evaluation Study Focus On?
    1. Needs Assessment
  6. Research in the News: What Motivates Policy Shifts?
    1. Evaluability Assessment
    2. Process Evaluation
  7. Research That Matters
    1. Impact Analysis
    2. Efficiency Analysis
  8. Ethical Issues in Evaluation Research
  9. Conclusion
  10. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Chapter 13. Reviewing, Proposing, and Reporting Research

  1. Comparing Research Designs
  2. Reviewing Research
    1. Case Study: “Night as Frontier”
      1. The Research Design
      2. Analysis of the Design
      3. An Overall Assessment
    2. Case Study: When Does Arrest Matter?
      1. Summarize Prior Research
      2. Critique Prior Research
      3. Present Pertinent Conclusions
  3. Research That Matters
  4. Proposing New Research
    1. Case Study: Community Health Workers and Cancer Clinical Trials
  5. Careers and Research: Ruth Westby, Research Associate
  6. Reporting Research
  7. Research in the News: How Much Should Social Scientists Report?
    1. Writing and Organizing
    2. Plagiarism
  8. Conclusion
  9. Key Terms | Highlights | STUDENT Study Site | Exercises

Glossary

Appendix A: Finding Information

References

Index

  1. About the Authors
  2. Preface
  3. Acknowledgments